Temperature Cure - Herbed Jicama Salad

When the thermometer starts staying consistently in the 90’s, I’m always looking for dishes that are bright, cold and refreshing. This one certainly fits that bill.

Have you tried jicama (hikama) yet? I’m surprised at how many folks haven’t. It’s sort of a cross between an apple or pear and a radish. A tiny bit sweet, and wonderfully crunchy.

Salad Ingredients

1 jicama, peeled and julienned

4 radishes, sliced paper thin (like on a mandoline)

1 1/2 cups Rainier Cherries, halved and pitted

1 fennel bulb, sliced paper thin (like on a mandoline)

1 pink grapefruit, supremed*

Handful of fresh basil, chiffonade

Handful of fresh mint, chiffonade

Small red onion, thinly sliced, optional

Slivered almonds, optional garnish

Dressing Ingredients

1 ripe Bosc pair, cored and seeded

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of the grapefruit body*

1 tablespoon agave or honey

Handful of mint leaves

Handful of basil leaves

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 tablespoons light oil of your choice, optional**

METHOD

Make the salad and set aside in the fridge to chill:

* If you’ve never “supremed” (soo premmed) a piece of citrus, it’s very simple. Cut the bottom and top skin of the grapefruit off to give you a flat surface to do the rest of your work.

Using a very sharp knife, cut the skin off in downward motions, following he curved sides of the fruit, trying to stay as close to the fruit as you can, without leaving too much of the white pith or membrane.

Holding the completely peeled grapefruit in your hand, cut angled sections of fruit in between the vertical membranes. (See picture). Place the sections of grapefruit into the salad bowl and take what’s left of the fruit over to the blender and squeeze what juice into it that’s left.

Add the rest of the dressing ingredients into the blender, except the oil.

**I think the pear gives the dressing enough body, leaving the oil out entirely. I’ve done it both ways, but it’s a matter of taste.

Blend completely without the oil first, salt and pepper to taste, then choose whether you want the extra body that the oil provides.

This salad is a wonderful light lunch, and you can certainly have it over some light greens, and garnished with some slivered almonds for some added protein.

As a side, I’d skip the nuts and leave the salad as is, as a nice refreshing counter to a spicy main dish.

Cool, refreshing Jicama Salad

Serve super cold, on a super hot day.